The Cliffs: A Great Value Family Blackpool Hotel

We had a wonderful weekend break in Blackpool thanks to The Cliffs Hotel. You can read the story about why we went to Blackpool here, basically it was all the kids’s idea, but also tinged with nostalgia on my part, a trip with my Grandparents, around the age my kids are now.

I won’t lie, it took a little bit of adjustment when we first arrived, Blackpool has changed lots since I last visited, I can’t wait to share all that with you, but it is still a cheeky assault on the senses which takes a moment or two to acclimatise to. So we took a moment to crash on our comfy beds for the weekend.

Our room

The kids soon made themselves at home in our room. It was very clean and well kept, they predictably loved the bunks. What The Cliffs offers here is great value, two night weekend breaks with 3 course dinner, buffet-breakfast and nightly entertainment start at only £89 per person. Children are welcome at £20 each per night. Knowing you have your main meals and accommodation sorted, you just need a little money for chips on the beach, a few drinks during the hotel’s evening entertainment and a bucket and spade and you have the makings of a great value family break.

Great Value

Of course you can also use The Cliffs as a comfortable base for seeing all Blackpool’s attractions in Summer, or the Illuminations in Winter. The good value offered by The Cliffs means your holiday money will go even further, especially staying on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis. On our second night the comedian performing in the hotel joked that Blackpool isn’t cheap, but you absolutely can spend as much or as little as you want to here.

Next I took the kids for a swim in the basement pool in the leisure club, which was a great bonus to staying in a larger hotel.

The Beach

After enjoying dinner, more on that later, we decided to see the sea, The Cliffs is a 5 minute drive or tram ride from the centre, the tram stop is right outdoors. But for now we were happy to acclimatise on the beach immediately opposite the hotel. We couldn’t quite believe the view that greeted us.

L had been a bit annoyed that a friend at school had teased her for saying she was going to Blackpool, and that the beaches would be littered with rubbish. So we were so pleased to discover that the four vast swathes of sand are all blue flag beaches and were very clean. We soon got to work on a girls vs boys sandcastle competition. You can see the tower in the background here and get an idea of the hotel’s setting, it’s a perfect peaceful setting for families, but also within easy reach of the tower and surrounding attractions.

Hers won on decor, his on defences!

Then it was time to climb the steps back up towards the hotel.

The Entertainment

We spent some time in the hotel’s Lancaster Suite enjoying the kids entertainment. The kids had to do a scavenger hunt, which basically involved coming back to us for a penny, a shoe, and finally an adult, time to dance together and then some entertainment. It’s cheesy, but this is Blackpool, and admittedly it was fun to all be doing something together other than watching TV in our hotel room, it was so easy to pop everyone into bed when they started to fade too. It also gave Mr A and I a chance to catch up and unwind with a drink, while the kids loved having other kids to hang out with.

Kids’s Club

The Rocky Gardens Kids’ Club is offered for kids from 4 to teens, there is a teen base and a tech base too. They are supervised, but there aren’t limits on number and staff don’t keep track of children’s comings and goings, so you need to feel confident your kids are old enough to come and go. We didn’t have much spare time in the daytime, we had a Resort Pass to test out too, but they really enjoyed the activities the staff ran in the evenings in the Lancaster Suite.

Breakfast

We woke the next morning to the smell of cooked breakfast and a view over Blackpool to the hills.

Breakfast was buffet style continental and cooked, so everyone was happy. From me with my fresh fruit, nuts and yogurt, to the kids with Rice Krispies, followed by fried egg on toast, to Mr A with a full English.

It was L who started to ask about the hotel’s architectural features, and when we started to really look you can see so much faded seaside glamour, and we started to talk about the history of Blackpool. The Cliffs was built in 1921.

Tram Stop

The tram took us from the convenient Cliffs Hotel stop to our first stop, the Pleasure Beach.

Days Out

Lots more on our days out on Space In Your Case, but the Pleasure Beach was much cleaner, tidier and more organised than I remember it. You also have to buy a pass for it, rather than pay as you go, but there are great options here, from the Blackpool Resort Pass that we used very successfully, which lets you in multiple attractions for a fixed pass fee, to a pass with or without rides, there are lots of options. These two loved it.

We walked back from the Pleasure Beach to the Tower, which gave us chance to explore another huge spread of sandy beach. The tide being out meant there was so much sand and little streams to play with. The kids absolutely loved this.

We also indulged in a spot of fortune telling in Ripley’s.

Then it was time to pile back on the tram and recoup at The Cliffs for a while, and start to plan day two!

Dinner

Dinner was a mix of buffet starters, salads, soups plus main meals from the menu, if you wanted to order one. Buffet dining was great for the kids as they could get stuck in to starters straight away and also loved to make their own puddings afterwards.

I can’t tell you how pleased I was to see Vegetarian Madras on the dinner menu; proper Saturday night food and just what was needed after a full on day out. I’ve been avoiding lots of foods recently, which can make eating out hard work, but the buffet dining at The Cliffs meant on Friday night I could easily make up a plate based on lots of yummy salad, with some feta cheese, but after a busy day I was ready for a hot meal! This did not disappoint.

L liked a little ice cream with her sprinkles 😉

After a Sunday lie in and another hearty breakfast we checked out and took in all Blackpool has to offer, including the Tower, Dungeon and Madame Tussards, but more on that over on Space in Your Case, and in the video!

The Important Stuff

Thanks to The Cliffs for having us, the hotel offers families great value, a clean, comfortable base, plus the addition of free entertainment and leisure facilities is a real bonus to a weekend break.

We were guests of Visit Blackpool and Choice Hotels, you can check out my vintage Blackpool wall art finds at A Residence and read all about the attractions we visited and our money saving Blackpool tips, over on Space In Your Case.

Here is is in glorious technicolour, have a look at our hotel room, then take a tram with us into Blackpool!

3 Comments

Liam

10/08/2015 / 5:39 pm

Penny and family,
Thank you so much for doing this blog it brought a tear to my eye,
Me and my family have been going to Blackpool for 50 years and love everything about it,your blog is about everything Blackpool and the cliffs hotel is about your blog should be seen by all the people who call the place.
Thank again for making me smile and remember.
Regards Liam .

I'm Penny, I live on the edge of the Peak District with my 2 children, husband and a greyhound. We love learning new stuff, getting outside, being in nature, having adventures, travelling, being creative, history, science, culture and sharing the best bits here.

Contact me: parentshaped@gmail.com

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